We love seasonal crafts at Babyccino, and Autumn is such a colourful time to embrace the vibrant Fall outdoor palette, and bring it indoors before things quickly change! I grew up making this ‘stained glass’ craft each year. Perfect for rainy days, or a relaxed afternoon activity after a walk.

My children loved this craft to chase away the jet lag on the start of our holiday. Since it wasn’t our home (we were travelling) I think it goes to show how easy of a craft project it is to do!

And this craft looks lovely taped in a window and capturing the light outdoors. I would love to see a whole installation of these, on a really big window or sliding glass door! Please share them with us if you post on Instagram with the hashtag #babyccinokidscrafts.

The materials are simple:

either freshly found or already pressed Autumn leaves

white waxed paper (the brown is lovely too but doesn’t work in my experience)

crayons in autumnal colours — this is optional but creates a cool look (use the old bits leftover from restaurants etc given away), and if using crayons, a mallet or heavy kitchen tool to bash the crayon into small bits in a little sealed bag

an iron, without water / steam, on the steam-free setting

ironing board

old towel or unwaxed brown paper bag

Arrange your favourite leaves on a piece of wax paper. Keep the leaves from the edges, or the wax won’t have a way to adhere to itself. If you want to add the crayon bits you’ve already bashed up, do so now.

Lay another piece of wax paper on top, and cover with a towel on both sides (so that there is no wax paper showing). The next step is for parents : using a hot iron, gently iron on top of the towel until the wax paper inside fuses together. Ta-da! You’re done!

It took us a total of about 5 minutes to do this step, and the kids were definitely impressed with the final result! Once cool, we did cut some of the crayon and waxed paper shapes into leaves as well, but this was a bit tricky since the crayon is cold and chips of it fell out — it looks good but takes sharp scissors, and a lot of patience to get right. So I prefer the wax paper staying square or rectangular! But I love the combination of wax and leafs, especially if you keep them in the same colour palette — instant crafting sophistication.

And if you are having a leaf frenzy, other amazing Autumnal leaf based crafts are these masks, these rubbings, or this garland! So many fun options of things to do with leaves.

Enjoy!

Lara

x

ps You can find more of my craft, recipes, and travels here at @laraoflondon

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